Roofing

Steep Slope

• Roof Anatomy and Terminology

  The parts of a roof and the words for them, including the slope thresholds that decide which safety rule and which covering apply.

• Asphalt Shingle Installation

  How asphalt shingle roofs go together, the most common steep-slope system in the US and the subject of its own NRCA installer certification.

• Underlayment and Flashing

  Underlayment, ice barrier and the flashing family, the layers that actually keep water out and the source of most leaks.

• Metal Roofing

  Metal panel and metal shingle roof systems, which NRCA certifies as two separate installer competencies.

• Tile and Slate

  Clay and concrete tile and slate roofing, heavy long-life systems with their own structural, handling and certification requirements.

Low Slope

• Low-Slope Systems: BUR, Mod-Bit, Single-Ply

  Built-up, modified bitumen and single-ply membranes, and why thermoplastic and thermoset membranes are different competencies rather than variants.

• Membrane Details and Terminations

  Seams, terminations, penetrations and curbs, the details where low-slope membranes are made or lost.

• Roof Drainage

  Getting water off a low-slope roof through drains, scuppers and overflow, and why standing water is a structural question as well as a leak question.

Codes

• Roofing Codes: Which Book Governs Your Roof

  The IRC covers one- and two-family dwellings and the IBC covers the rest, and which edition applies to you is decided state by state, not nationally.

• How the Code Frames Wind and Uplift

  Where the code sends you for wind loads and roof covering wind resistance, without quoting a single uplift value or fastener pattern from memory.

• Leak Diagnosis

  Tracing a leak from where it shows inside to where it enters above, which is rarely the same place.

• Roof Inspection

  Inspecting a roof systematically and recording what you found, including the fall protection that applies the moment you step onto it.

• Storm Damage Assessment

  Assessing wind and hail damage and distinguishing it from wear, a judgement with money and a license attached to it.

Contractor

• Roofing Estimating

  Measuring a roof in squares, allowing for waste and slope, and pricing tear-off separately from installation.

• Insurance and Restoration Work

  How insurance-funded roof replacement works and where the ethical and legal lines sit for the contractor.

• Roofing Licensing by State

  Roofing contractor licensing varies sharply by state, from Florida's certified and registered categories to California's C-39 classification.

• Manufacturer Certification Programs

  What a manufacturer's approved-installer status is, how it differs from a credential held by an individual worker, and what this site can and cannot verify about either.

• Becoming a Roofing Contractor

  The route from roofer to licensed roofing contractor, and the experience, exam, bond and insurance gates along the way.

Credentials

• NRCA PROCertification

  NRCA certifies individual roofing workers by system type through an eligibility exam plus a hands-on assessment, and the credential belongs to the worker rather than the firm.

• Roofing Warranties and Manufacturer Programs

  A material warranty and a workmanship warranty are two promises from two parties, and this page states plainly which claims about manufacturer programs we can verify and which we cannot.

• Florida Roofing Contractor License: Certified and Registered

  In Florida, certified means statewide and registered means one local jurisdiction, which is the reverse of what the words suggest.

• California C-39 Roofing Contractor License

  California licenses roofing as its own C-39 specialty through CSLB, requiring four years of journey-level experience, exams and a $25,000 bond.

Fall Protection

• Fall Protection on Roofs: the Six-Foot Rule

  OSHA requires fall protection at six feet in construction, and 1926.501 is the most frequently cited OSHA standard of any kind.

• Fall Protection on Low-Slope Roofs

  What 1926.501(b)(10) permits on a low-slope roof, including warning line combinations and the narrow case where a safety monitor may work alone.

• Fall Protection on Steep Roofs

  Above a 4 in 12 slope OSHA calls it a steep roof, and the permitted options narrow to guardrails with toeboards, safety nets or personal fall arrest.

• Residential Roofing and OSHA's Residential Rule

  Residential construction is a defined regulatory category with two tests, and since 2011 it has carried no softer fall protection rule.

• Fall Protection Training and the Competent Person

  What 1926.503 requires an employer to train, who must deliver it, what the written certification record must contain, and what triggers retraining.

Jobsite

• Tear-Off Safety and Debris Handling

  Tear-off is roofing work under Subpart M, and it combines an unstable walking surface, open holes and falling debris at the same time.